Fourth edition of October already. How the year has flown. It would be a lie to say I’m not looking forward to a hiatus of a number of things that the end of the year will bring. 2013 has been exhausting. Here are the other highlights from last week:

The bespoke venue developed in partnership with Mantle Group is due to open in early 2014. Ideally located within Brisbane’s cultural precinct in Southbank, the brew bar will carry the full range of James Squire craft beers and seasonal brews on tap, paired with an inspired food menu.

Just in case I hadn’t gloated enough, we suggested this was the case all the way back in June, although Matt Kirkegaard on ABN has said that the Brewhouse is separate to the “South Bank craft beer concept” tendered earlier in the year, so that’s cool: there’ll be two. I wish it was something more interesting to announce but we rarely get a chance to be ahead of the curve.

Strong attendances at the opening weekend of events got Sydney Craft Beer Week (SCBW) off to a flying start.

At the Vic Hotel in Enmore on Saturday afternoon, the SCBW Launch Party (pictured left) hosted thousands of revellers who were able to sample beers from 15 brewers large and small, including Matilda Bay, Cascade, Little Creatures, James Squire, Bacchus, Mountain Goat, Cavalier and more.

Did you know that pairing craft beer and pizza is trickier than you think? No? What’s wrong with you? Did you think you could just get away with ordering up your favorite pie and inadvertently pairing it with (gasp!) any old favorite beer?

All along you’ve been thinking it’s a simple task and then . . . wham! The experts at TheDailyMeal.com tell us “pairing craft beers and pizza is trickier than you might think.”

McDonald said he’d spent a lot of time in recent years thinking about the best path forward for the brewery he built from nothing into the 12th-largest craft brewery in the United States. While the decision wasn’t easy, after nearly 25 years of running Boulevard he felt the timing was right to make a change.

It takes more than putting in dedicated hours down the pub, however, and it’s no mean feat to get as far as she has in such a male-dominated industry. She also balances her day job (working as a TV presenter) alongside her passion: beer.

When you read the words “strawberry”, “chocolate”, “chilli” and “lemon” I’m sure you had some kind of reaction. It might have been positive and it might not have been. I have to confess to a “ugh” reaction when I saw the words “strawberry blonde”. My brain immediately feared a Chupa Chup in beer form. Instead I sipped on a lightly malty beer with hints of real strawberry, not lolly strawberry, and it was fresh and clean and it surprised me.